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Miracle: The Boys of '80 revisits a Cold-War victory on ice.
Summary
The Netflix documentary 'Miracle: The Boys of '80' revisits the U.S. hockey team's 1980 upset of the Soviet Union through game footage and interviews with surviving players, while commentators place the moment against the era's Cold War tensions and domestic troubles.
Content
The Netflix documentary "Miracle: The Boys of '80" returns to the U.S. hockey team's upset of the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics. It foregrounds the surviving players and their memories. The filmmakers mix archival game footage with contemporary interviews. Commentary in the film connects the victory to wider Cold War and domestic issues of the time.
Key points:
- The film is a Netflix documentary directed by Max Gershberg and Jake Rogal.
- It centers on surviving members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, including interviews with Jim Craig, Mike Eruzione, Ken Morrow and Mark Johnson.
- The documentary recalls coach Herb Brooks assembling players from the University of Minnesota and Boston University; Brooks's son and daughter appear, and Brooks died in 2003.
- The directors intersperse game highlights with players' personal recollections and portray Brooks as a demanding figure who used harsh methods to build unity.
- Commentators such as George Will and broadcaster Al Michaels help situate the game amid Cold War tensions and domestic troubles like the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, gas lines, inflation and the Iran hostage crisis.
- The film follows earlier dramatizations and documentaries of the story while putting surviving players at the center of the narrative.
Summary:
The documentary frames the Lake Placid victory as both a sporting upset and a cultural moment by emphasizing player memories and archival footage. Undetermined at this time.
